Always Friends
by xMidnight Muse
Summary: Just a little bit of bonding between Slightly and Peter after the pirates were defeated. Based off of the 2003 movie. Not slash, I promise.


**I was watching the 2003 film and fell in love with Slightly. So the writer's gears in my brain started working and came up with this little ficlet about the relations between Slightly and Peter. Not slash, I promise. Just some nice stuff between two friends.**

**oOoOoOoOo**

_Our story begins almost immediately after the battle of the Lost Boys vs. the Pirates takes place. But as a slight change to the tale you might be familiar with, instead of going straight to England, our heroes take the time to celebrate and spend one last night in their underground home._

Peter felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. It was all over now. No more worrying about the pirates; wondering if they'd catch him, or the Lost Boys; worrying that after each of their little battles, someone might not make it back.

But finally, after such a long time, Hook was dead, as was most of his crew. And the ones that were left were too afraid of Pan to try and avenge their captain's death. They had simply disbanded across the island, ready to take on the hardships on living by oneself.

Peter looked around the room, a smile gracing his features as he watched the boys, and Wendy of course, talking merrily about their adventure. It really was a heartwarming sight for the young boy, for he loved them all very dearly and was pleased to see them all so happy.

That was, until he counted the heads of those in the room, and discovered that there were only nine others in the room, plus the Darlings, knowing full well that there should have been ten. He scanned them carefully before easily figuring that the missing boy was Slightly.

He looked around for any sign of the boy, and felt slight relief wash over him when he heard Nibs talking of Slightly "heading up above for a breath of fresh air".

Peter flew up without a word and above ground to where he saw a small figure leaning against one of the trees in the forest. His relief was quickly replaced by concern when he heard small cries come from the figure.

"Slightly?" he called. The boy jumped as he looked around for the source of the voice. His body relaxed back against the tree when he saw it was his friend.

"Oh, Peter. It's just you"

Peter's worry increased at the ragged sound of his voice and breathing.

"Are… are you ok?" he asked carefully, kneeling down next to his friend.

"Aye. It's just a bit of a cut from one of those broods. It's a tad painful" Slightly assured him, but winced as he tried to move from his position.

Peter kicked himself mentally. He had noticed earlier that Slightly had been acting a bit pained. He would wince ever so slightly every time he walked, and had cried out when Wendy had hugged him after they had won. He then vaguely remembered seeing a streak of red across Wendy's arm.

"Slightly, let me see" Peter told him, in a commanding, yet calm, voice.

The Lost Boy looked down at where his hands were grasping at his side, then back at Peter, a certain skepticism showing in his eyes.

Peter sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you. You know me far to well to even imagine that" he assured him.

Slightly hesitated for a moment before nodding, gulping, and carefully pulling his hands away from the wound.

Even though it was dark outside, it was easy to tell that his wound was more than "a bit of a cut". There was a fair sized slice making its way down Slightly's side; red had tainted the surrounding area as well as the boy's small hands.

"God Slightly, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Peter asked incredulously, examining the wound closely, but being careful not to touch it and cause Slightly more pain then he was already in.

"I dunno. It didn't really seem important" he answered, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"Not important?" Peter inquired, moving his eyes from the cut to look at Slightly.

"You got sliced by some bastardly pirate and you're bleeding like crazy, and it's not important?"

"I guess I just wasn't thinking" Slightly confessed, dropping his eyes to the ground.

"Wouldn't be the first time" Peter muttered, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lip.

Slightly looked back up, a small sparkle now in his eyes. He gave Peter an exasperated look.

"Are you here to help me or judge me on my poor sensibility?" He asked, returning his hands to his side.

"You mean I can't do both?"

Slightly narrowed his eyes, "come on Peter, I'm serious. This actually really, kind of hurts, and it would be awfully nice for it to start feeling a bit better," he hinted, giving his leader a pleading look.

"Oh alright, I'll be right back" Peter shook his head before lifting off in to the air. I guess one wasn't very prone to having a sense of humor when they had a huge gash in their stomach.

"And Peter," he turned back to Slightly, "do me a favor and don't tell the others. They'd worry terribly, and they should be celebrating"

Peter nodded and flew back down to grab a few supplies that he would need to wrap Slightly's wound. While he slipped past the party and into his corner of the room, he couldn't help but reminisce on his friend outside.

It always amazed him how the small boy would think of others before himself. Slightly would rather hurt then have one of his friends' night ruined. Even if it meant being stubborn and stupid.

Peter once again surfaced to find Slightly in the exact same position just like he had expected. He knelt down again and dipped a spare cloth he had grabbed into the Never-Flower oil he had also taken.

"This is going to sting" he warned before placing the cloth on the wound.

Slightly clenched his teeth and let out a strained cry of pain. Peter quickly removed the cloth and let him sit for a moment to get over the burning sensation.

"Good Lord! Are you trying to kill me!?" Slightly seethed, still breathing through his teeth.

"Well I'm sorry, but would you like to die?"

Slightly growled, but clenched his teeth again and looked away, signaling the other boy that he was ready for it.

Peter sighed and placed the cloth back on the wound, gently cleansing it, but wincing at the rough breathing coming from the rigid body he was trying to mend.

After a few painful moments, the wound was void of the blood that had surrounded it, and was about as clean as it was going to get.

"There, the worst is over. Now all we have to do is wrap it" Peter announced grabbing the bandages that lay next to him.

There were a few moments of silence before Slightly broke it with a startling statement,

"I've missed you Peter" he announced sadly.

Peter hesitated in the care of the wound to look at his friend confusedly.

"I haven't gone anywhere" he told Slightly, furrowing his brow.

Slightly sighed and leaned his head back against the tree, "ever since Wendy came along, you've been…different. More distant. You're not around as much" his voice was soft and low.

Peter took in the information for a moment before returning to the cut, "I have no idea what you're talking about" he said roughly.

Slightly laughed lightly, "of course not" he muttered so softly, Peter couldn't hear him.

"Ever since she came along, you've been spending so much time with her. Showing her around, teaching her things. What happened to our adventures? What happened to the seven of us gallivanting around Never Land, causing trouble and having fun?"

There was a pause and the two sat in silence,

"It's almost as though you've forgotten about us. Ask any of them. Nibs, Curly, Tootles, even the Twins. It's not that I don't like Wendy, I do, quite a lot in fact, she's been so caring to all of us. It's just that I don't quite like the fact that she's taken my best friend away from me"

Peter tucked in the end of the bandage to finish his handy work. Slightly couldn't be serious. Had he really been that neglecting towards the Boys?

"I…I had no idea" he stuttered out, looking up at Slightly.

Peter then sighed and moved to sit next to his friend, leaning against the tree.

"You know, I still remember the day I found you, my first Lost Boy. You were so lonely, on the streets all by yourself. And you looked near death as well. I also remember that as soon as I had you in Never Land, I made myself a promise that you would never be alone ever again. You and I would always be the best of friends and you'd never have that empty feeling inside of you again" he turned his head to look at Slightly,

"I guess I didn't do a very good job of that did I?"

Another pause, not an awkward one, but just existent.

"You love her don't you?" Slightly asked, turning to look at Peter as well.

"Honestly? I have no idea what I feel about her" he answered, knowing exactly who Slightly was talking about.

"But there is something that I am completely sure of"

Slightly furrowed his brow and cocked his head lightly to the side, "what's that?"

"That you'll always be my best friend"

A wide smile broke across Slightly's face, and one closely followed on Peter's.

"Aye. And you'll always be mine"

Peter flew up to hover above Slightly. He offered his hand and carefully helped his friend back to his feet, not wanting to damage his wound.

"Let's go back inside and celebrate!" Peter said, dropping back on to his feet.

The two boys walked together in to the underground home where they were greeted again by their friends, their family.

Peter felt terrible for how he had treated the Lost Boys, but one look at each of their faces showed him that he was forgiven.

**oOoOoOoOo**

**Ugh, not my best work, but I just had to get it out of my head and on to paper. I hope you liked it though, for some reason, I talked very properly in this one, which I realized after I read over it. Oh well :o)**

**Reviews make my day!**

_I don't own Peter Pan_


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